The Hunter - Inspiration

I regularly get asked where my stories come from, and some readers wonder whether I am completely right in the head as my tales are rather 'dark' and 'edgy', to say the least.

As my most avid readers know, I base my stories on real life criminals and their misdeeds, derived from my extensive research of psychopaths - both those who kill and those who do not. I often take facets of actual events from the news, especially the most evil actions undertaken by our fellow humans, and weave these elements into my novels with a healthy(?) dose of imagination.

The Hunter blends several strands together. You will know from other pages on this site that modern day slavery and human trafficking are featured, but I have also drawn on some of the events mentioned in ﻿this article﻿ from The Independent.

Please note: I don't necessarily agree with the author's sensationalist and hysterical claim the Koh Tao, a Thai tourist island, is too dangerous for foreigners to visit, but the article did inspire my own invented island of Koh Kaprong which features in the novel...

The excerpts below are highly relevant to The Hunter, and the full news story can be found here.

'I heard almost daily tales of horrific motorbike, car, boat and bus accidents, scams and property frauds, drownings and diving incidents, stabbings, suicides and highly-suspicious deaths. Most distressing among them were the murders of British youngsters Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, who were brutally killed on the southern island of Koh Tao in 2014...'

'...the investigation into Ms Witheridge and Mr Miller's murders was widely criticised, with the police accused of incompetence, mismanagement and the scapegoating of two Burmese migrant workers, who are now awaiting the death penalty.'

'...a number of other disturbing deaths soon came to light, including that of Nick Pearson, from Derby, who police concluded had fallen from cliffs and then drowned, and French tourist Dimitri Povse, who was found hanged with his hands tied behind his back.' [NB This latter death was ruled a suicide by local police.]

'...an island held in the iron grip of a mafia family, who demanded protection money, controlled the local police force and were not above attacking or burning down the homes and businesses of people that crossed them.'

'...a British friend of one of the murder victims told how local gangsters threatened to hang him and frame him for the killings in the days after the deaths.'

“They just said to me, ‘We know you killed them. You’re going to hang yourself tonight and we are going to watch you hang. You will die tonight’. So I just ran.”

Inspiration from others' misfortune?

For me, these sorts of stories are grist to the mill and offer inspiration for my novels - my imagination goes into overdrive, thinking about how to create a plot involving my characters while weaving in some elements based on these factual events. On reading the rumours about local gangsters murdering the two British travellers - and on seeing the way the police handled the two Burmese suspects - I immediately wondered what Chief Lee would make of the situation on Koh Tao.

And more importantly, why would Kate O'Sullivan and Doug/Hunter be involved...?

By bringing together these various thread, including the problems of human trafficking and slavery which exist all over the world, I aim to deliver a thrilling read. The characters in my novel in no way reflect the real individuals involved in the stories outlined above, and although inspired by these events, I do feel desperately sad for the people who have suffered such tragedies, which are all too common in this day and age.

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